Writer/director Denis Villeneuve has successfully blown minds with his big screen adaptations of Frank Herbert’s Dune, but soon, the eye-popping, expansive world of the sci-fi epic is coming to the small screen. The miniseries Dune: The Sisterhood was first announced all the way back in June 2019, and while it now has a new title, Dune: Prophecy, it’s finally almost here. It took a while for the project to move through development and production, but it will soon be providing fans with a new story from the expansive canon.
When will we get to see Dune: Prophecy? Who are the key filmmakers bringing it to life? Who are the stars? We answer all of those questions and more in this detailed feature, and we will continue to update this piece with more information and updates as we get closer to the show’s release date.
Dune: Prophecy Is Scheduled To Premiere In Late 2024 On Max
After many years and behind-the-scenes changes, Dune: Prophecy is presently on pace to premiere at some point in late 2024 (per TV Line), though that is sadly as specific as release date information gets right now. It’s presently unclear how many episodes there will be, and it hasn’t been reported if the show will be getting a weekly release or available to binge.
From the beginning, Dune: Prophecy has been developed as an original series for Max – which is the proprietary streaming service of Warner Bros., which has distributed the Dune movies worldwide. It’s obviously unclear at this time if the show will ever get a physical media release, or if it will remain exclusive for those with Max subscriptions.
Dune: Prophecy Is Set Thousands Of Years Before The Dune Movies
Frank Herbert’s Dune and Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation take place about 20,000 years in the future, but Dune: Prophecy will be rewinding the clocks back – specifically to the halfway point. Variety has reported that the show takes place 10,000 years before Dune – but it still has strong ties to the story in the blockbusters via its characters.
Valya and Tula Harkonnen – ancestors of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Lady Jessica, and Paul Atreides and more – will be the central protagonists in the series, and their actions will end up having major consequences on the universe, as the story will see them form the exceptionally powerful religious sect known as the Bene Gesserit.
Alison Schapker Is Dune: Prophecy’s Showrunner And Executive Producer, And Anna Foerster Is Directing The Pilot And Additional Episodes
This gets a bit complicated, so strap in.
When Dune: Prophecy was announced, it was reported that Denis Villeneuve would direct the pilot and that Jon Spaihts would write the script, but that creative lineup did not stay in place. A month later, Good Girls Revolt creator Dana Calvo signed an overall deal with Legendary Television Studios, and she was made a co-showrunner on the Dune series with Spaihts. This partnership only lasted a few months, as The Hollywood Reporter said in November 2019 that Spaihts was stepping down (he is still attached as an executive producer).
Both behind the scenes changes and the pandemic put the project on pause, but Diane Ademu-John was hired to be the showrunner in July 2021 along. It was then about a year later that Denis Villeneuve opted out of directing duties, as he was deep in the process of making Dune: Part Two. Chernobyl director Johan Renck was hired to direct the first two episode of Dune: Prophecy in April 2022.
Production on Dune: Prophecy (then still using the working title Dune: The Sisterhood) began in late 2023 in Budapest, but behind-the-scenes shakeups continued. Like John Spaihts, Diane Ademu-John stepped down while staying onboard the project as a producer, and Alison Schapker was made the new sole showrunner. It was then reported a few months later that creative changes were being made during a planned hiatus in filming, as Johan Renck’s “auteur approach” didn’t properly line up with the franchise aesthetic Denis Villeneuve established with Dune: Part One.
In June 2023, filmmaker Anna Foerster signed on to direct the pilot and additional episodes of the series, and despite the on-going WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, production was able to continue under a contract with British Equity (which is the same reason HBO’s House Of The Dragon was able to continue shooting amid the labor disputes).
It’s unclear when production concluded, but according to a Collider interview with Pierre Gill, it was before the start of 2024.
Dune: Prophecy Features A Stacked Cast Led By Emily Watson And Olivia Williams
Here’s the bad news: fans are probably not going to see much or any of Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Fergusson, Javier Bardem or any of the other Dune movie stars in Dune: Prophecy. Admittedly, visions of the future are a thing in this universe, but not to be forgotten is that the story is set thousands of years prior to the events in Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two. That being said, the sci-fi series has assembled an excellent ensemble cast of its own.
Playing Valya and Tula Harkonnen in Dune: Prophecy will be Emily Watson and Olivia Williams. The former was first cast in October 2022, though Shirley Henderson was originally cast in the latter role. Henderson left the project amid the behind-the-scenes shakeups in February 2023, and Williams replaced her as Tula about four months later when Anna Foerster boarded the show.
Furthering adding to his cred among genre fans, Mark Strong will play Emperor Javicco Corrino (an ancestor of Christopher Walken’s Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV from Dune: Part Two), and he will be joined as part of the royal family by Jodhi May as Empress Natalya and Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Princess Ynez (per Deadline).
Vikings and Warcraft star Travis Fimmel will play a soldier named Desmond Hart, and the rest of the cast includes Shalom Brune-Franklin, Aoife Hinds, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, and Chris Mason.
Be on the lookout for more stories and features about Dune: Prophecy here on CinemaBlend, and stay tuned for the show’s first trailer (which we are greatly anticipating). Keep an eye on this space for updates in the coming weeks and months, and take a look at everything that is already set on the small screen schedule for this year with our 2024 TV Premiere Calendar.
